Nobody missed point guard Jeremy Lin as much as Steve Novak did during the Knicks’ playoff series against Miami last April.
Novak’s best moments with the Knicks last season occurred during the height of Linsanity, when the former Harvard point guard smoked through the lane to draw traffic and…

Amar’e Stoudemire said not to worry about him â?? he will have enough time to get adjusted to Carmelo Anthony.Stoudemire said he is “questionable” for tonight’s preseason game in Hartford against the Celtics, saying there is no reason “to rush.”Stoudemire missed Thursday’s 108-101 victory over the…

14 comments on “Knicks Morning News (Saturday, Oct 13 2012)”

Prigioni looked really good against the Wiz. I suppose we’ll see him a bit in November while some of out twos work their way back. That is, Kidd will be used at two a lot and Pablo will spell Raymond.

I really liked what I saw from Kidd. He’s such a great player. Really happy to see him playing for us just from the standpoint of how the game flows when he’s out there. Kurt Thomas looked really good also in the 38 to 21 first quarter.

OK, now everyone can get back to the reflexive comments about how old and slow those guys are.

I don’t think the Knicks get by the Heat this year or any until LBJ plays for us. That said, I think we can and should beat the Celtics this year and get a 3 or 4 seed in the playoffs. Then I think we can win two rounds. Carmelo, Amar’e and Chandler have to be dynamic leaders and then everyone else is a role player, and we have some very skilled people at those positions. The Celtics are going to be very good. I’m not underestimating them. Sullinger will be the steal of the draft but I just think we’re better.

I’m not ceding a trip to the finals to Miami yet. Yes, they are the favorites, but they have some vulnerabilities. Wade is starting to show his age a bit. Ray Allen is not a great 2-way player any more. They don’t relly have a legit center. Their PG situation is just OK at best. Melo, if not on the same planet as LeBron, is at least in the same solar system.

I really think we will learn a lot about our team in very short order, starting tonight. I full expect that this is going to be a fun team to watch. It would be nice to see us play with the grit, poise and teamwork that has been lacking for so many years.

I’m not sure what you’re saying, Brian. Is it that you hope we aren’t crushed by another early playoff exit, and that anything above that is gravy?

Pretty much.

Heck, I was relatively pumped that we got to actually see a playoff win period last year. Don’t get me wrong, yes, it would be a disappointment to see them not go further since this will likely be the best this particular group of players will be, but it’s been twelve years since they last won a playoff series, so I’ll take it. I wouldn’t be thrilled, but I’d be happy. Anything after that would just be awesome. Although, yeah, I sure as heck would love it if their second round opponent was not Miami.

I am just going to enjoy being able to watch a team that I can confidently expect to win most nights. It’s been a long time since we actually got to root for a legitimately good Knicks team, so I’m pumped about that. The regular season alone will please me.

It’s the same for me with the Yankees. I love that they’re routinely good so that every regular season there is a very good chance they’ll be one of the best teams in the league. It’s fun watching your favorite team win a lot. The playoffs are such a crap shoot.

danvt:
I don’t think the Knicks get by the Heat this year or any until LBJ plays for us.That said, I think we can and should beat the Celtics this year and get a 3 or 4 seed in the playoffs.Then I think we can win two rounds.Carmelo, Amar’e and Chandler have to be dynamic leaders and then everyone else is a role player, and we have some very skilled people at those positions.The Celtics are going to be very good.I’m not underestimating them.Sullinger will be the steal of the draft but I just think we’re better.

LBJ is a pussy. And Udonis Haslem can kiss my ass. I hope I misspelled his name.

If they have a prob with that, I’m counting on ‘sheed, tyson and kurt thomas to have my back!! We haven’t been this tough since Mason and the Oak Man

I hear you, Brian, but the key thing you say is “this will likely be the best this particular group of players will be.” Although I think that Grunwald might come up with some creative ways to improve the team next year, and Shump will be a year older and better, for the most part your point that we are at a peak for the next couple of years is very likely true. Not to mention that teams around us (Chicago, Indiana, Nets, Philly) are also likely to improve after this year. So my hopes for this year are magnified in that sense. Winning a playoff series vs. Philly, Atanta, or Milwaukee won’t do much for me. Beating the Nets or Indiana would be better, but if we went on to lose to Boston in the second round, I would still consider the season to be pretty much a failure.

As a Mets fan, I hear you about the Yankees. However, imho, playoffs are far more predictable in basketball and the better team usually wins. In baseball, it often comes down to hot pitching and unlikely heroes (e.g. 1969 Mets were WAY less talented than the Orioles). I really do believe that we are the second best team on paper in the conference for this year and possibly this year only, and that’s why I would consider anything less than a loss to the Heat in a competitive ECF a huge disappointment. Looking at it another way, to lose to the Heat in the second round, we would probably have had to finish second in the Atlantic, which would indicate a disappointing regular season.

chrisk06811: LBJ is a pussy. And Udonis Haslem can kiss my ass. I hope I misspelled his name. If they have a prob with that, I’m counting on ‘sheed, tyson and kurt thomas to have my back!! We haven’t been this tough since Mason and the Oak Man

I’ve been watching a number of vintage ’90s games. The guy that stands out the most to me is Mase. He was really, really good, and one terrifying, tough, menacing bastard. His combo of size, speed, strength, ball handling and D was truly freakish.

If everything breaks right for this team– if Felton has a good season, if Jason Kidd doesn’t fall off a cliff, if Amar’e doesn’t continue to decline, if Melo finally becomes that .180+ WS/48 player, if JR Smith has a breakout season– yeah, sure, this team could be good. But some of those things will probably happen and some won’t. Last preseason we were talking about how Toney Douglas could probably do a pretty good job holding down the PG position until the savior Baron Davis arrived, how Landry Fields was going to bounce back from his rookie wall-induced problems, how Amar’e was going to get back to being a dominant player, how Melo was going to have a career year, etc. Sometimes shit does not go the way you hope it is gonna go.

This is truly an abused fanbase. People seem to be excited about a group of players who have zero chance of ever winning a title together, which I just don’t understand. People seem to be satisfied with winning a playoff series or two this season, even though almost every player on this roster is likely to decline over the next few years and this is as good as the team is ever gonna get. I am pretty frustrated that the big master plan for this franchise was to give max contracts to two overrated volume scorers and surround them with players who are ten years past their primes.

After a decade plus of miserable basketball, I was hoping for more than this.

JK47: If everything breaks right for this team– if Felton has a good season, if Jason Kidd doesn’t fall off a cliff, if Amar’e doesn’t continue to decline, if Melo finally becomes that .180+ WS/48 player, if JR Smith has a breakout season– yeah, sure, this team could be good. But some of those things will probably happen and some won’t. Last preseason we were talking about how Toney Douglas could probably do a pretty good job holding down the PG position until the savior Baron Davis arrived, how Landry Fields was going to bounce back from his rookie wall-induced problems, how Amar’e was going to get back to being a dominant player, how Melo was going to have a career year, etc. Sometimes shit does not go the way you hope it is gonna go. This is truly an abused fanbase. People seem to be excited about a group of players who have zero chance of ever winning a title together, which I just don’t understand. People seem to be satisfied with winning a playoff series or two this season, even though almost every player on this roster is likely to decline over the next few years and this is as good as the team is ever gonna get. I am pretty frustrated that the big master plan for this franchise was to give max contracts to two overrated volume scorers and surround them with players who are ten years past their primes. After a decade plus of miserable basketball, I was hoping for more than this.

Maybe the most annoying post I’ve read in a month. Why make yourself and everyone else miserable?